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Deivis Nicolás Guzmán Tordecilla is a PhD candidate in the Department of International Health's Health Systems Program at the Johns ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½. His journey into public health reflects a deep commitment to equity, rigorous research, and applied policy change across Latin America and the United States.

Nicolás began his professional path as a nurse and early-career researcher, leading studies on chronic disease, food policy, and health equity. He was selected as a Young Researcher by and Gobernación of Chocó, where he helped lead a community-based intervention to promote physical activity in Chocó. These experiences motivated him to pursue a Master of Public Health at Universidad de los Andes where his thesis explored chronic stress as a mediator between socioeconomic status and treatment adherence for hypertension. 

After earning his MPH, Nicolás worked at Red PaPaz as a policy advocacy coordinator. There, he collaborated with Colombia’s Ministry of Health and Congress to promote regulatory measures including a front-of-package warning label and taxation on ultra-processed foods. He also contributed to technical strategies for the Pan American Health Organization, the World Bank, and national stakeholders, helping inform public policy on food and health systems.

In 2020, he was awarded a Bloomberg Philanthropies-Vital Strategies Fellowship to pursue his PhD at Hopkins. His dissertation, titled Economic Incentives and Advertising Market Structures in Food Policy: The Role of Cash Transfers and TV Advertising in Shaping Nutritional Behavior, consists of three essays using regression discontinuity, multivalued treatment models, and monopsony pricing theory. This work was recognized with an Honorable Mention in the .

"This is a highly competitive and internationally recognized prize that celebrates excellence in the field of health economics," said Antonio Trujillo, PhD, MPP, Nicolás' PhD advisor and a professor in International Health.

Currently Nicolás is extending his research using machine learning to simulate policy responses from the food industry. During his time at Johns Hopkins, Nicolás has also contributed to several high-impact research initiatives, including:

• Studying racial and socioeconomic disparities in joint replacement care using Medicare data, with the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions.
• Coordinating the implementation and data analysis of a randomized controlled trial that evaluated a mobile phone strategy to support COVID-19 vaccination in Colombia.
• Supporting the data management team for the Bloomberg Initiative for Global Road Safety, an international project focused on reducing traffic-related deaths and injuries through evidence-based interventions and policy recommendations. 

A first-generation Afro-Colombian scholar, Nicolás continues to mentor students from underrepresented backgrounds and co-leads projects aimed at reducing disparities in data representativeness and access to care. "Hopkins has given me the space to connect data with advocacy and bring rigorous science to real-world change," he reflects. "As I move forward, I want to build evidence that not only informs policy but actively improves the lives of communities historically excluded from those decisions."

Nicolás encourages students to embrace fieldwork, policy engagement, and interdisciplinary learning. "Don’t wait for perfect conditions to get involved," he advises. "Use your skills to build coalitions, generate evidence, and advocate for impact."

Published May 28, 2025